Inside U.S. Trade - California Members Call For Flower Industry Funding In Colombia FTA Bill

Thirty-one members of California's congressional delegation last week pressed U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk to include funding for a cut flower transportation and distribution hub currently being constructed by the California Cut Flower Commission (CCFC) in the draft implementing bill for the Colombia free trade agreement.

The July 14 letter, which includes Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) as signatories, came on the heels of USTR's commitment to address the issue during a July 7 House Ways and Means Committee mock markup of the Colombia FTA as well as the FTAs with Panama and South Korea.

At the markup, Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA), who signed the July 14 letter, offered an amendment to authorize the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide $15 million worth of grants to fund a transportation and distribution center for domestic cut flowers in an effort to keep the industry competitive with that of Colombia, whose flowers would receive preferential treatment under the FTA.

Thompson agreed to withdraw the amendment after Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) declared it out of the committee's jurisdiction but on the condition that the issue would receive attention from the Obama administration. USTR General Counsel Tim Reif obliged, saying that the cut flower issue has been “something of importance to the administration in the past” and that USTR would be “happy” to work with Thompson on the issue.

The July 14 letter to Kirk echoes the sentiments of a similar letter sent in April to President Obama last month. That letter simply asked Obama to consider the impact of the FTA on domestic flower industry and mentioned the CCFC's effort to build the distribution center without explicitly asking for federal funding in the implementing bill, though CCFC President Kasey Cronquist told Inside U.S. Trade that the group had been pushing for such a provision.

Last week's letter garnered 31 total signatures, compared to the 41 on the April letter to Obama. The 10 members who opted not to sign the second letter were: Reps. Joe Baca (D-CA), Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), Ken Calvert (R-CA), Susan Davis (D-CA), Bob Filner (D-CA), John Garamendi (D-CA), Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Jerry Lewis (R-CA), Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) and Brad Sherman (D-CA).